In this age of hi-tech, impersonal living, our individual identities are in danger of being submerged and our collective past is easily forgotten. History is therefore more important now than it has been in any previous time. It is a corrective that insists we are not defined as a number in a data bank, but as people who have lived in relation to time and circumstances. Our roots lie not in a code but in interactions with other people and in the flow of daily events.
"Canadian Baptists have eagerly awaited the day that someone would produce a comprehensive, candid and faithful report of who we are and what major events helped shape our identity. This book can only strengthen Canadian Baptist relationships, as it brings to mind our common or similar beginnings.
"The author of this history, Dr. Harry A. Renfree, has done us an immense service by giving us a history worth reflecting upon and one which ought to spur us on to glorify God in His church's mission. Well qualified to share his gifts as writer and interpreter, Dr. Renfree is a Canadian Baptist who has given lifelong leadership in the cause of Christ in this country.
"My hope is that the readers of this book will come to understand how Canadian Baptists have sought to serve Christ throughout their history and right up to the present day. May God's leading in this historic endeavour cause us to grieve over the errors of the past, to rejoice in the grace of God that has marked our joyful times and to firmly resolve to go forth in this day in our land to honour the Baptist name through true humility and servanthood.

--R. C. Coffin
General Secretary-Treasurer
Canadian Baptist Federation